Tomas Cerny – Behind the Gloves

Move to CSKA Sofia

The strange thing about Sofia is that I never planned to go there. At the time, I was recovering from a shoulder injury during my spell at Hamilton. That part of the story probably deserves its own chapter, because injury is a lonely place for a footballer. For now, all that matters is that I had moved back to the Czech Republic to do my rehabilitation and get myself ready again.

Then, out of nowhere, the phone rang. An agent told me that CSKA Sofia were interested in signing me. It was completely unexpected. At the same time, I had also been speaking to Aberdeen. Craig Brown was the manager, and I remember speaking to him on the phone. He wanted me at the club, but he could not guarantee that I would be first choice. I was at a good age. I needed to play. I did not want to take the risk of sitting on the bench.

CSKA Sofia

CSKA Sofia were not just another club. They were the most successful club in Bulgarian football history, with 31 league titles. It was a club with huge tradition, pressure and expectation. Some of the biggest names in Bulgarian football were connected with CSKA. Hristo Stoichkov, a Ballon d’Or winner. Dimitar Berbatov. Stiliyan Petrov, who had such a strong connection with Scottish football through Celtic. Martin Petrov, who I would later share a dressing room with. For a period, Stoichkov was even my coach.

So when CSKA told me they wanted to sign me as their number one goalkeeper, it became a serious option very quickly. The financial side was also impossible to ignore. The money they offered was really good — much more than anything I had ever been offered in Scotland — and it was tax free. For me at that stage of my career, it felt like an opportunity I might never get again.It sounded exciting. It sounded lucrative. And I had absolutely no idea what I was walking into.

My agent at the time was Bill McMurdo, who had previously represented George Best — one of the greatest footballers of all time, a Ballon d’Or winner and a global icon of the game. Bill took over the negotiations.

When I told the agent who had first contacted me that I needed to speak with Bill and let him deal with CSKA, his reaction was not what I expected. He was furious. He started shouting down the phone. He told me he would stop the deal from going through and that I should watch myself. It was strange, and a little unsettling. I remember thinking: What kind of world am I stepping into here?

Then, for a couple of weeks, things went quiet. No contract. No flight. No clear answer. Just waiting. That is one of the hardest parts of football. From the outside, people see the moves, the contracts, the photos with the scarf above your head. But they do not see the uncertainty before it. They do not see the phone calls that might change your life, followed by days where nothing happens at all. During that time, I spoke a lot with Laura. She was apprehensive about the move, and I completely understood why. Bulgaria was not exactly a normal, obvious move for us at that time. We were settled in the UK. Her life, her work, our routines — all of that mattered too.

But Laura has always been incredibly supportive.She has two degrees from Glasgow University and had built a serious career of her own, working as a Senior Director for a clinical research company. Because she was home based, she had the flexibility to continue her career even when football took us somewhere unexpected.That made a huge difference.Still, it was not just about me chasing a contract. It was about us making a decision together. A new country. A new culture. A new club. A completely unknown experience.

Laura said she would come with me wherever football took us.On one condition.She had to be able to bring Odie, her sausage dog.

That was Laura. Supportive, practical, and very clear about the important things. Then, after the quiet couple of weeks, the call finally came. CSKA wanted me to travel immediately to Sofia for a medical, with a view to signing a two-year contract. It was real now. I had to pack my bags and go.